CML Offshore Recruitment

How has the Global Economy affected Employment Offshore? How much are you worth?

Admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Chris Turrell, IT, Accounting and Financial Services Recruitment Consultant at CML Offshore Recruitment recently wrote about the upcoming CML Offshore Recruitment Offshore Salary Survey on the Cayman Islands&Offshore Business Forum on Linked In. For the benefit of those who are not a member of this group (and you should be!), here is the article.

At CML Offshore Recruitment, we’re currently compiling the most comprehensive Offshore Salary Survey and Market Update to date.

We’re hoping this adds value and is of interest and relevance to you; Employers, Job Seekers and Business Stakeholders.

Firstly, we aim to demonstrate how salaries over the past 12 – 24 months have been affected as the economic downturn continued to bite.

Secondly, we hope to show you, in line with our observations, how the green shoots of recovery are slowly but surely beginning to sprout. Are you feeling more or less confident about your job search / security at present as opposed to 6 and 12 months ago?

Thirdly, Employers; we intend to get a better understanding of business needs for the next 6 months and into 2011. We hope to be able to advise when it comes to relevant candidates actively and passively looking for new opportunities – Where should you be looking? Who should you be looking for? How much should you be paying? CML will be able to use information gathered and collate it into easy to understand results. Furthermore we will be able to assist from start to finish for the entire recruitment process; from candidate vetting to contract exchange.

Fourthly, Candidates; we intend to get a better understanding of how the market has been affected for job seekers over the past 6 months, but more importantly how you feel about your career prospects and aspirations in the short, mid and long term futures. How have the jobs that you’re doing at the moment and looking to do moving forwards changed? How have your salaries been affected currently and how have expectations been altered as a result? Where are you now looking to work? CML will be able to use information collected to help manage expectations and find the most suitable, attractive opportunity for you.

In order to gain as comprehensive set of results as possible, we would appreciate assistance from you. If you could communicate;

Employers; how your resourcing needs have been affected over the past 12 months. How you feel they are going to change over the next 6 – 12 months. If you have hired similar positions over the past year how have you found the process? Is the market saturated with candidates or have you found that the ‘A’ candidate is harder to find and subsequently attract? Have the salaries offered to new hires been affected at all? How have bonuses been affected within your organization?

Candidates; how have your salary expectations been affected? Have you had to amend the types of positions sought after? How has your job security changed?

I understand that this information can be sensitive, feel free to communicate privately.

We hope to be able to provide a comprehensive report that will assist with your Recruiting Needs, your Job Search and show that the confidence really is returning to Offshore jurisdictions.

By Chris Turrell, IT, Accounting and Financial Services Recruitment Consultant at CML Offshore Recruitment

Lawyers' remuneration in Cayman

Admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One of the noticeable features of the legal job market in Cayman is the myriad of remuneration structures that abound between the law firms operating here, which can make it difficult when advising candidates onshore as to what earnings they are likely to achieve should they choose to relocate and work here.

Typically the remuneration structure used by the large law firms in Cayman will fall into one of two camps :

a basic salary according to the individual’s level of post-qualification experience (ranging from circa $80,000 at the newly-qualified level right up to $250,000 at the managing associate level) plus a percentage of fees billed and collected over certain thresholds (effectively commission). Typically no commission is paid until a certain billing level is achieved and then higher percentages of commission are paid as higher billing thresholds are achieved. (At the medium and smaller sized firms however, the basic salary on offer can simply be a fixed amount irrespective of your level of PQE, typically around the $100,000 level).

3. or

a a basic salary according to the individual’s level of post-qualification experience (ranging from circa $80,000 at the newly-qualified level right up to $250,000 at the managing associate level) plus a discretionary bonus based on a number of factors such as individual performance, contribution to team, contribution to marketing, overall performance of the firm. In some firms this bonus may be subject to an upper limit and be equivalent to a fixed percentage of salary.

(To make it even more complicated, some firms employ a variant on the two structures whereby they pay a basic salary plus commission on fees billed and collected over certain thresholds plus a discretionary bonus which is paid as a percentage of fees billed and collected over a certain threshold).

As a general rule, a UK lawyer coming to Cayman can expect to earn at least the same amount in dollars as they are earning in sterling in the UK but obviously the big difference is that in Cayman they will not be paying any income tax.

In some cases, earnings can be considerably higher than in the UK, even after taking the absence of income tax into account.

For example, high-performing associates at some large firms in Cayman can achieve total earnings of up to $500,000, or more, tax free, figures which would attract envious glances from even Equity Partners at a lot of the mid-sized London firms and which are even comparable to earnings of junior Equity Partners at some of the very largest and most profitable London firms, since $500,000 tax free is equivalent to some £500,000 gross in the UK.

By way of relocation package, firms will typically pay for flights and the first month’s accommodation for the candidate and his dependants plus a sum towards shipping their goods to Cayman.

By way of benefits, candidates will usually as a minimum have half or all of their private health contributions paid by the firm, sometimes for their whole family, plus pension contributions equivalent to 5% of their salary paid by the firm.

From CML’s Perspective: Financial Services Market Update on The Captive Insurance Industry

Admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

According to a very experienced captive insurance manager in Cayman, the outlook for the industry for 2010 in comparison to 2009 is “fair to good”.

Captive insurance companies are insurance companies formed by its parent group with the specific objective of financing risks emanating from their parent group. A business forms its own insurance company subsidiary to insure itself against retained losses in a formal structure.

Bermuda and Cayman are the traditional hubs for the offshore captive insurance industry, thanks to the highly robust and reactive regulatory frameworks in place in both jurisdictions. Recent figures show 885 captive insurance companies currently registered in Bermuda, and 778 in Cayman.

Cayman Island Monetary Authority (CIMA) figures released as at 31st December 2009 indicate that Cayman formed 40 new captives in 2009, 25% more than the 32 in 2008. A welcome surprise according to many in the industry. The industry appears to have weathered the economic storm well, suffering just one involuntary liquidation during the financial turmoil of 2009.

Captive industry experts believe that although the worst is hopefully over for the investment markets, US companies will be slow to commit capital for such projects as captives whilst the commercial insurance markets continue to offer favourable rates.

A similar story is being reported in Bermuda, Bermuda Monetary Authority in a press statement released in the last week last week reports that the Bermuda insurance market continued to record strong performance, against the backdrop of a prolonged soft market and the effects of the worst financial crisis in a generation.

Jeremy Cox, CEO of the Authority said, “The Bermuda market continued to record impressive results in challenging economic conditions. The market has fared very well, reporting significant results both in underwriting premiums and total assets. Almost $20 billion in gross premiums written by the captive sector in a soft global market supports Bermuda’s position as the leader among captive domiciles.

“While some companies did experience losses over the past year impacting capital levels, the market still remains highly capitalised and these losses were primarily related to impairments within their investment portfolios, in line with global trends,”

Incorporations increased slightly during 2009: a total of 42 new (re)insurers were established in the Bermuda market during the year, as compared to 40 in 2008. The greatest proportion of business came from the US during the year, with respect to both the captive and commercial markets.

A concern for Cayman and Bermuda at the present time is the re-domiciling of captive insurance vehicles to new captive jurisdictions being established within the U.S. and elsewhere globally. However the advantages of a long established and reliable world-class regulatory framework should continue to give Bermuda and Cayman the edge over the new so called offshore-lite jurisdictions.

In its quarterly newsletter, IMAC, the Insurance Managers Association of Cayman, is looking forward to growth in the sector in 2010.

The steady pace of the industry in the last year has meant that we’ve seen the rate of recruitment decline over the last 12 months with captive managers mainly recruiting for staff attrition. There is still demand in the employment market for strong accountants with two to three years captive insurance experience.

From CML's Perspective; Financial Services Market Update as at 15 February 2010

Admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The sleepy offshore employment market continues to rouse itself in the wake of increased perceptions of economic recovery across the globe.

The mood of the employers is shifting to a more emphatic “cautiously optimistic” as business continues to flow in though the door. A number of employers have expressed surprise at the speed of the recovery, but the message is clear, investors seem once again willing to step away from the sidelines and into the fray.

The Cayman Net News today announces the official grand opening of Intertrust Cayman, a global trust and corporate services company and the newest member Cayman’s business community. The opening was attended by various political and financial services dignitaries in Caman including the Deputy Managing Director of CIMA, Patrick Bodden, and the Financial Secretary, Ken Jefferson. The Managing Director of Intertrust is quoted as saying “We are confident in the future and look forward to much success and growth for years to come.” Excellent news all around for the offshore finance community.

As a result of the cautiously optimistic outlook, employers are not yet quite ready to commit themselves to hiring permanent staff and so we are seeing the demand for contractors continue to climb. In particular the temp to perm market i.e. where the employer is willing to take on a member of staff on a contract basis for 6 months, and convert them to a permanent contract at the end of that time. This is proving to be a good option for employers who are still facing the challenge of obtaining head office approval to increase headcount as quickly as the increasing inflow of new business.

The big questions on everybody’s mind at the moment is what will be the extent of the recovery, and how quickly?

Watch this space for updates.

The Big Thaw

Admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As Europe begins to thaw out following the big freeze that has brought much of it to a standstill recently, the job market in the Cayman Islands has begun to follow suit. 2009 saw an unprecedented ‘freeze’ on recruitment, bringing to an end a 3yr period of sustained growth throughout the majority of Financial Services firms on the Islands. Most optimists however, (myself included) predicted that the new year would bring new opportunity and thus far that has appeared to be true.

As we bring to a close the second full business week of this new decade, things are looking very positive for the year ahead. We have seen an increase in demand for temporary Accounting staff along with a couple of newly created positions at a mid to senior level.

Whilst it’s too early to tell if we are over the worst economic crisis of our era, if the year ends as it has started, I think we should be almost there.